1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foot massaging apparatus for massaging the foot or calf of a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there have been known various foot massaging apparatuses as shown, for example, in FIG. 26 [see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 15-052781 (Patent Publication 1)] and FIG. 27 [see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-239595 (Patent Publication 2)].
In the conventional foot massaging apparatus illustrated in FIG. 26, a rotatable roller unit 101 having two grooves 102 for receiving therein right and left feet of a user is mounted to a foot-supporting housing 100 in a rotatably driven manner. Each of the grooves 102 has a width changing in a circumferential direction of the rotatable roller unit 101, and includes a plurality of pressing fingers 103 disposed on both sides thereof. When a user inserts his/her foot into the groove 102, the pressing fingers 103 located on both sides of a narrow portion of the groove 102 can pinch the foot therebetween in a width direction and pressingly massage the foot.
In the conventional foot massaging apparatus illustrated in FIG. 27, a rotatable roller unit 111 to be rotatably driven is mounted to a foot-supporting housing 110, and a plurality of drum-shaped pressing members 112 disposed in a circumferential direction of the rotatable roller unit 111 can pressingly massage right and/or left feet bottoms or leg calves. Further, a gate-shaped support member 114 is attached to the foot-supporting housing 110 in such a manner to be swingably moved between upstanding and fallen positions in a forward/backward direction of the foot-supporting housing 110. After holding the support member 114 at a given angle, an airbag attached onto an inner surface of the support member 114 can be inflated to press a user's foot toward the rotatable roller unit 111.
While the above conventional foot massaging apparatuses are designed to allow user's feet or other leg region to repeatedly receive a pressing operation from the rotatable roller unit, the pressing operation provides only mechanical rotational stimulations, and thereby a user is apt to get bored easily. Moreover, these apparatuses cannot perform a massaging operation for the toe region of user's foot. Thus, there remain problems to be improved.